Louie the Goose, a favorite at Lake Miramar, spent a few days at the San Diego Humane Society Escondido campus recovering from an illness, but he’s back at the lake now. (courtesy of San Diego Humane Society)

Beloved goose returns home

By Anna Ruth Ramos

Those who have frequented Lake Miramar might have seen or heard of Louie the Goose. While classified as a goose, to locals, he’s been dubbed the therapy goose.

Beloved by many in the community, just in the past year, Louie has made headlines locally about his comforting impact on people, which earned him his moniker. With stories of how Louie has helped others just by being around them, recently, Louie was the one in need of help because he had been sick with an upper respiratory illness.

That’s where Mindy Dreisewerd cames in. She has created a GoFundMe page for Louie the Goose. She’s raising the money for those who helped with his recovery. Dreisewerd explained that Louie greatly helped her cope with severe depression over the years and now she’s giving back by helping him get healthy again.

Now, Louie is doing better, according to Dariel Walker, communications specialist at the San Diego Humane Society.

Walker said Louie was brought in by humane officers last week after people observed that he sounded like he was coughing.

“He was brought in to our Escondido campus and treated for an upper respiratory infection,” Walker said. “After receiving treatment, our humane officers actually released him back to Lake Miramar.”

He was at the Escondido campus for nine days where he was treated with antibiotics. He came in March 25 and was released on April 3.

(courtesy of San Diego Humane Society)

Kelly Allison is another local woman who has grown fond of Louie. She went to see Louie at Lake Miramar the day after he got back.

Allison has known Louie for several years as she used to frequent the lake a lot for walks. She assures that if there’s anyone who knows Louie best, it’s Mindy Dreisewerd because of her personal story with him.

She said people were heartbroken from missing Louie during the days when he was gone because he has been at the lake for 20 years.

“He’s a staple of the lake,” Allison said. “I’m so glad he’s back because it was my birthday this week and he was gone, and it just broke my heart. That’s why I reached out … to see if anybody saw him because I’m thinking ‘Where did he go?’ Luckily, he came back.”